All-new Rainbow Centre for children and young people opens its doors!

15 Feb 2017

We’re excited to say that the Rainbow Centre at Newham Hospital is now operational, following our £6.8m funding for the redevelopment. It’s a dedicated one-stop shop, transforming the care and treatment of young people across Newham and beyond.

The Centre is set to make a massive difference to young people and their families. It’s bringing together children’s services – for both inpatients and outpatients – under one roof for the first time and reducing the need for transfers between hospitals.

Newham is home to over 85,000 children and young people – one of the highest concentrations of young people in the country. Last year, more than 20,000 attended the A&E department at Newham Hospital, with over 9,000 outpatient appointments.

The state-of-the-art facilities include:

High dependency beds

Bigger outpatient consulting rooms

A large play space and interactive environment for patients

A schoolroom

Teenagers’ leisure room

Nappy change and breastfeeding areas

A garden including a covered pavilion – with built-in animal noises and nursery rhymes!

En-suite single rooms

100% increase in the size of the assessment area (where children are seen before being admitted)

Other features include rooms for consultants to stay on-site closer to their patients, a room for parents, and a kitchen.

Children were even involved with the development process, including being consulted on their favourite colours to guide the artwork for the Centre.

“We’re so pleased that the Centre is now open for patients,” said Fiona Miller Smith, our Chief Executive.

“We recognise the phenomenal amount of hard work from the hospital staff that’s got everyone to this point.

“We’re delighted to have been able to fund this amazing facility – with the help of supporters – and know it will make a huge difference to the children and young people of Newham and beyond.”